Damaged
by C. N. Sweatt
Summary: Years after the events of T2, Jack is 26 and has discovered deadly plans involving the creatures on T2. Now, with this knowledge, Jack and Riddick must travel back to the planet to try and stop the possibility of the creatures being relocated. J/R, Ch8 Up
1. Dreams, Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own Pitch Black nor its characters. All those not recognized are _probably of my own make. I am making no profit from this; it's purely for shits & giggles. The first words in italics are taken from the book, Pitch Black, by Frank Lauria. Some of the concepts and/or histories are also taken from the book. The song Damaged, by Plumb, will subtly fit to the flow of the story, just give it time. The following events are placed eighteen years after the movie events._

Fic Name: Damaged

Who: Riddick/Jack pairing, Imam might appear, other original chars.

When: 18 to 22 years (time lapses due to cryosleep time additions) after the events of Pitch Black

Synopsis: 18 years after the events of Pitch Black, Jack is 26 and living on New Mecca with Imam. Right after Riddick, Imam, and Jack got off T2, Riddick left both of them. Now, years later, Jack has discovered some deadly, classified information about the regeneration and relocation of some of the T2 creatures and must find Riddick to help destroy those plans. Riddick and Jack travel back to the desolate, arid planet with only three days until the new eclipse. Thus, with only limited time until the planetary eclipse, Riddick and Jack must destroy the plans for relocation of the creatures, survive the remaining numbers of creatures still on the planet, and also find a way off the planet before it's too late.

**Damaged**

By C.N. Sweatt

Damaged

Dreaming comes so easily,

Cause it's all that I've known.

True love is a fairy tale...

I'm damaged, so how would I know?

I'm scared, and I'm alone...

I'm ashamed and I need for you to know...

I didn't say all the things that I wanted to say,

And you can't take back what you have taken away.

Cause I feel you...

I feel you... near me...

Healing comes so painfully,

And it chills to the bone...

Will anyone get close to me?

I'm damaged, as I'm sure you know...

I'm scared, and I'm alone...

I'm ashamed and I need for you to know.

I didn't say all the things that I wanted to say,

And you can't take back what you have taken away.

Cause I feel you...

I feel you... near me...

There's nothing for my soul...

And into this fear....

Forgiveness for a man who is stronger...

I was just a little girl...

But I can't go back...

I didn't say all the things that I wanted to say,

And you can't take back what you have taken away.

Cause I feel you...

How I feel you near me...

Can't go back...

I must go on…

--Damaged, by Plumb

**Chapter One, Dreams**

_There are no dreams in cryosleep._

_            Nothing except the murky sludge of frozen time. Cold and gray, like dirty snow ebbing slowly into a sea of mud. A desolate place where the human soul is hostage, suspended between death and rebirth._

            The best of it, or perhaps the worst, is the fact that cryosleep leaves you set apart from the rest of humanity. Time moves on, humans die and humans are born, planets change, technology advances; life is passing and you're not there to witness it. 

            Cryosleep keeps you at the same; the same memories, the same wants, the same needs. You are the same, yet everything has changed and gone.

***

            Even after spending more than half my life in cryosleep, I still can't shake the feeling of having left something behind. There's always this new fear, each time I enter the cryotube, that I'll lose something if I don't stay. Something I'll never be able to find again if I don't stop, turn around and go back.

            Technically, my paper age was already at 98 years, but after cryo-deduction I'm closer to twenty-six; healthy, young, and full of ambition. So, tally all that up and it would be around seventy-two years spent in cryosleep. 

            I think if you were to ask me eighteen years ago, when I was thirteen and lost, "So, Jack, where do you see yourself ten years from now?" I would have replied that I wouldn't have seen myself period.

            That would have been my answer back on that hellish planet. T2 in the uncolonized Quinner system, as I had later been told was what it was called. I had honestly not believed I would survive it. 

To this day, it's been avoided. I hear it's still uncolonized out there. Nameless, dangerous, and forbidden.

And those extra two and a half years in cryosleep after I left the planet with Riddick and Imam on our rescue ship couldn't help me escape the memory of it.

            Technically, it's been eighteen years since I was last there, last saw Riddick. I remember how much it hurt to know that he was gone, that he left of his own free will. For years after he left, I used to dream that he was out there somewhere, thinking of me, wishing he could come back. That he would come back and never leave me.

And then I'd wonder if those things are still out there, eerie calls searching out that desolate darkness for a new meal…searching for us, the ones who got away.

Perhaps they've killed each other off…

            But, no…that would be too convenient, wouldn't it? And life isn't easy like that. I've known that every since I ran away and left my parents on Scorpio One, one of the moons outside of the Old Earth System. I spent all the money I had planet hopping, trying to escape the looming presence of my parents. For sixty-six years I rested in cryosleep, traveling further and further away from Scorpio One on "back-road" shipping lanes and never came out the wiser for it.

            Truth be told, Taurus Three in the Tangiers System had been my last stop, the end of my runaway journey. Besides a few other planets (none as respectable as T3) it was probably the closest I could get to being on opposite sides of the universe from my parents. Not to mention, by the time I was on the last ship headed for Taurus Three, I figured they were dead and gone by then anyways, their bodies turned to dust while mine slept on in cryo. 

            So, my traveling upon the Hunter-Gratzner headed for T3 was something of a relief to me. I was finally going to have a life and it would be mine to make. 

            But as many things do, that last trip definitely did not go as I'd intended it to. There was the crash, the survival, the escape. 

And during the escape of that cursed planet, I realized something I should have earlier. Despite all that time spent in cryosleep, years gone by and a life that should have already been lived instead of running away, I was still a child. A child who knew nothing more than what her dreams told her of. 

            So, after we escaped the planet, I made plans. Plans that involved Riddick and Imam. I would live out my childhood in their care and when I was grown, Riddick and I would go off and have grand adventures, adventures far from the nightmares of my youth.

            But, as many a grown man or woman might tell you, the plans of the young are most often idealistic and half-formed. 

            As were mine.

            Riddick left on the most convenient ship off-planet once the Gradish Mina Tyen, our rescue ship, dropped us on T3. There was a time when I used to tell myself that he left to avoid Company cronies, but I figure on a better theory nowadays. After all, when faced with the prospect of growing old and slow with an energetic little girl bounding after you with so much admiration, who _wouldn't run?_

            After Riddick had left, Imam offered for me to go with him to New Mecca. With nothing else left in my future, I agreed, and traveled the required cryo years needed to reach the planet of pink waters. 

            I spent the next thirteen years there, comfortable but perhaps not content. Imam had only been on hajj, but with the boys gone, he had no reason to return home. 

I finally allowed my hair to grow out to my waist, pleased with the look. It was most definitely different from the shaved-head look I had tried to impress Riddick with all those years ago. I'm also a natural blonde, though it was more pronounced from all my time in the New Meccan sun, not to mention I almost crispied myself many a times.

And because of the new concerns and health risks that were being increasingly brought up about blindness, Imam made me agree to get ES when I was fourteen to protect my eyes from the brightness of the planet's sun. And truthfully, I wasn't planning on going anywhere, so when the time came, he paid the money for the EyeScreens and I got them done. You can't tell what my original color is anymore. All you see is the uncanny glow of the neon blue screens integrated into my iris.

            It makes it really hard to sneak up on people in the dark. 

            Actually, unless I remember to bring my night specs, I can't see anything in the dark. I'm completely blind, I'm not kidding you. 

Lucky for me night on New Mecca last about six hours, huh? 

And don't think I can't see the irony of the situation; it _does _remind me of Riddick's eye job, though my side-effects are almost the exact opposite from his.

            So, I spent more and more time swimming and helping Imam around the residence, since the glare didn't bother me anymore. I'm proud to say that, because of it, I'm a pretty in-shape person, though maybe a little too lean for my taste.

            I wish I could tell someone out there that Imam had done right by me, but frankly I just don't think there is anyone out there who cares. I lost my ignorance of life, well most of it anyways, and I've grown into the adult I should have been while crashed on that planet. Maybe then I could have helped save the rest of the survivors. Fry, Shazza, Paris, Zeke, the boys…maybe I could have stopped the inevitable. 

            But inevitability came and I wasn't able to help them and they're gone.

            So, you have to understand, when I stumbled upon some classified information from the Newtonian Institute concerning the creatures from T2, there must have been something inside of me that wanted to give penance to those lost souls on the planet. Yet, I knew I had to act and quickly, before it was too late.

            It was time to go back to T2, but I knew I wouldn't be able to do what I needed done alone.

I tried once to convince Imam to go with me, but he would not. He told me he would never go back to that deadly planet again and begged me not to go myself. I told him the consequences of what would happen if I didn't and he did not ask me to not go again. I also asked him only once, for I respected his decision.

I had been there also. I knew what it was like.

Therefore, if Imam would not go with me, there was only one other who knew how to handle those things on T2.

Riddick.

I found out that he had been traveling to Taurus Five under the name of William J. Johns. After all, Johns was dead, and Riddick had assumed the identity. Though, I do admit I was incredibly surprised he had kept it for so long. I had heard Company lawmen had been after him for a while…

Well, no matter the reason, it had worked in my favor quite well. After bidding farewell to Imam, I booked transit on a small commercial ship headed for T5 that supposedly guaranteed only a year in cryo to reach the huge planet. 

I was careful in my planning. If everything went right, I would reach the port that he was due to arrive at a day earlier than the vessel actually did. If I could convince him, I already had two passenger spaces booked on the Neidet Dawne that was headed to T2. And trust me, I had spent almost all of my money on that flight, considering no Captain (none in his right mind, anyhow) wanted to enter the Quinner System, much less take the lane near T2.

I was pretty much assuring myself that I could get him to agree, so I wasn't worried. He wouldn't let me go there alone.

And with all those plans in mind, into cryo I went and an undefined amount of time later, I reached T5. 


	2. Found You, Chapter Two

Chapter Two, Found You

Well, because of my own negligence, I was a day late getting to port. I was lucky to reach the port right as the landing cables were struck up for docking; they had let no one out yet. 

I waited impatiently, half eager, half nervous of what I would find on the ship. I wasn't sure what he would say to me when he saw me. I could hardly remember what he looked like. All I could remember was half-muffled memories; the glint of his eyes in the dim light of the cabin, the rumble of his low voice, the sweat beading on his muscular arms.

I would have liked to think I dressed the way I did today because of my own need to show the world who I was, but I knew it was just another attempt to impress Riddick.

I had pulled on my black suede pants that fitted me quite snug (as I now had the figure), a dark gray leather belt, and a black poly-grish three-quarter sleeve shirt that reflected the wane sun almost blindingly. I had purchased a new pair of black, steel-toed boots early this morning, and a sidearm, a 450Ms AA keiver pistola. The silver-bodied gun stuck out against all the black as it hung on the belt I wore, my own slender hand upon it.

I had decided to braid my hair (for once), and let it fall down my back in a thick line. My face was clear of any makeup; I didn't need any, thankfully. I had a good-sized morphpac on; with all the material and evidence I needed to show to Riddick and convince him. All the other things I had purchased were waiting upon the Neidet Dawne for Riddick and me.

I let out another annoyed sigh as the walk bridge began to lower. Those damn things took too long anyhow.

Passengers and cargo crews began to exit and enter, and as the crowd began to thin out I began to wonder if maybe I had gotten the wrong ship…maybe he wasn't even on it. 

I stepped onto the wide walk bridge and put a hand on my hip, right over the gun, and placed all my weight on a straightened leg. Every time someone would start to head in my direction, I would give them a glare and they'd back off without comment.

I'm sure it was my blue ES eyes that were spooking them; this planet's sun was not bright enough to have any need for ES and I doubt they got many people here who had had the surgical procedure done…New Meccans tended to stay far from this direly inconspicuous planet. 

Finally, after most of the passengers and crew had departed the vessel, he emerged.

I lost my strong, defiant stance as I caught sight of him. He looked almost exactly the same, maybe a year or two older. Had he really spent most of the past years in cryo? 

My gaze traveled over him; muscled, dark-skinned body, shaved head, goggles in place, same taste in clothes, and that ever-present air of predator. 

He stopped at the stop of the bridge, glancing about, old, brown cloth bag over his shoulder. I realized that I had stopped breathing.

I took a deep breath again, watching as he came down the ramp. 

Oh, that walk, how could I forget that walk?

I stood straighter now as he approached, face moving into smooth blankness. I opened my mouth to say his name when he glanced at me, then went past.

I blinked and shut my mouth. _He just walked straight by me!_

I stayed there, frozen for a moment before I found my feet and turned to look for him. I caught a glimpse of him before he entered the crowded dock street, his tall form pushing past the various people.

I leaped the last couple of feet off the walk bridge and ran after him. I hit the wall of people hard, knocking someone aside on accident and muttered, "Sorry" as I took off again.

I could see him ahead, but it was hard to get through the mass of people and I could tell his wider stride was carrying him away. I almost used his real name, but instead shouted out the alias he had been under for the past years.

"Johns! William Johns! Wait!" I kept shoving through the people, who were by then growing irritated at my impatient movements.

I mumbled a short, "Allahu Akbar." Up ahead, Riddick had stopped, and turned, a frown on his face as he waited for whoever it was to catch up.

I finally burst into the small clearing his body made in the sea of people and stopped in front of him. He turned to watch me, not saying anything as I caught my breath. 

It didn't take me long, and when I did, I wasn't thinking and burst out, "Riddick!"

I had just barely finished the name before his arm shot out and grabbed mine painfully, pulling me towards the outside of the crowd. Once we reached the outside, he pushed me against the wall of a closed-down DM Chips shop.

My morphpac hit the wall and I let out a startled whoosh of air. Riddick stepped up to me, crowding my personal space and braced a hand against the wall near my head. He leaned down into my face and growled, "I don't know who the hell you are, but you better have a fuckin' good excuse for using that name around me."

I stared up at him, eyes widening and breath catching oddly. God. I had forgotten that voice, too. It rumbled down my spine before becoming a small starburst and dissipating. His face showed no sign that he knew who I was, much less did his words just before. 

A trickle of fear filled me, and I let out another breath, saying rather deadpanned, "You don't recognize me."

"If I did, we wouldn't be here right now." I saw his face slant and I could tell he was looking my body over because of a wicked tilt of his lips. I wondered vaguely if he liked what he saw.

I swallowed. "Jack. God, Riddick, its me-Jack."

His face snapped back up to mine and the smile fell from his lips. For a small second, he moved even closer but then backed up. He took a step back and looked me over again. A grin moved over his stony features and he laughed.

I noticed that the top of my head came up to his shoulders now. I had grown, obviously. It was…weird…

Another shiver ran down my spine and I straightened up. 

"Fuck, Jack. It really is you. Damn…" He seemed to pause for a moment, then asked, "How old are you now?"

If I didn't know Riddick that well, I would have thought it a normal question. But, it wasn't. Not for Riddick anyways. Just why the hell would _he_ even want to know?

I cleared my suddenly dry throat. "I'll be twenty-seven in June if I stay out of cryo." Which I wasn't, but that was irrelevant. "What about you, Riddick?" I asked back, even though I could probably guess it was around the same as the last time I saw him.

He tilted his head at me again, a slight upturn to his lips. "About two years older. Oh, and call me Johns for now." He turned to move back into the crowd, motioning me to follow. I got behind him before I could be pushed away in the mass of people. I could just barely hear him speak from in front of me, "Not runnin' with the holy man anymore?"

"Imam?" I shouted back, even though I knew who he spoke of. "No, I left him on New Mecca. That's where I've been all these years. The reason I'm on Taurus Five is because I'm lookin' for you."

"Really." He turned his head to where I could see his profile. "Well, you found me."

I translated that to "Why were you looking for me?" and answered the unspoken question. "I came looking for you because Imam wouldn't come with me and I had already asked him and he wouldn't do it. So, I decided to find you because you're the only other person who knows the things that need to be known." I realized I was babbling, but continued, voice shouting to him ahead of me. "See, I found out some things, bad things, a few years ago and they need to be taken care of. That's why I wanted you-" I stopped to catch my breath and then blushed at what I had just said because I didn't get to finish the sentence. "-to come with me back to T2."

I was relieved to get it out and found I had run into a wall since I was not paying attention. But this wall was vibrating with energy and was suddenly very tense. 

Riddick started walking again, only this time taking fast, angry strides that led out of the docking district and into Temp Housing. Cheap, but clean housing, I noticed. Standard Company issued Aluminex Pre-Fab mixed in with the newer, shinier Opalar showed the Temp district had been around awhile. 

I had to quicken my pass to keep up with him. "Riddick, wait up!"

He stopped again, turning to say in a very deadly voice, "I told you not to use my name here." 

"I'm sorry, I was ju-"

"You gotta be fuckin' crazy, Jack. What the hell do you think you're doin' goin' back to a place like that?"

"See, that's why I wanted to talk to you."

He grunted and moved to a Multi-Purp Terminal and inserted his I.D. tag into the slot. He pulled up pricing for Temp Housing and made a reservation for one of the newer ones. He yanked out the offered code strip and retrieved his I.D. tag. His movements were fast and jerky. I could tell he was angry.

"Riddick-"

He ignored me and began walking down the row of small buildings. He went up the steps to one made from Opalar and slipped the code strip into the handle niche. 

I started walking again, and followed him up the steps to the door as he opened it. "Riddick, would you please just listen to me!"

Riddick tossed his bag into the small room and then turned and pulled me in after him, slamming the door shut.

"Watch your damn mouth. I'm not lookin' to be sent into Deep Storage again anytime soon. That name'll get us both in trouble, so kill it. I told you to call me Johns."

I looked down at the floor for a moment. This was not going as planned. "Look, I'm sorry. I really need you to come with me. You're the only other person who knows how to handle those…things."

A laugh erupted and I looked up at him. I didn't know why the hell he was laughing or what he was laughing at, but I decided it wasn't anything good and I ignored it.

"I think that all that cryogas has gotten to your head, Jack." 

I was actually starting to get angry at him. "Fine. You're gonna act like that. Shouldn't have expected anything else anyhow. Let me explain then, all you have to do is listen. Deal?"

He crossed his arms, watching me from behind his black specs. "Deal." His voice rumbled out of his chest. 

I stared at him for a moment, amazed for a tick that he had agreed. I gave a quick smile and then lost it as I slipped the bag from my shoulder and started pulling all the things I needed out.

"You're not gonna like this, but here's what's goin' on." And I started to explain to him everything I had found.


	3. Unbelievable, Chapter Three

Chapter Three, Unbelievable 

I watched as Jack set the morphpac on the small bed and began extracting data pins, plugging them into a portable unit she had brought with her. There was a network access unit over by the opposite wall she could have used but obviously what was on those file pins were not for the eyes of the rest of the world. She sat on the bed and began typing on the unit, drawing up a holo-screen for me. She scrolled to the top of the screen and said, "Read this. They're logs I found written by a Dr. J. Cohen and Dr. Price. Apparently they were on the planet at the same time we were."

I stared at the woman before me for a moment than assented finally, eyes skimming over the words quickly_. Investigation of the rock pinnacles at Y16/Z21, sonar imaging tests, Bio-soundings, giant, creature infested "termite mound"…They were all dated months before we had even crashed onto the planet._

I looked at Jack, gaze immediately drawn to the low glow of her eyes. I definitely remembered her _not_ having eyes like that. Of course, I'd been in cryo for most of the time I'd been away from the kid and holy-man, memories of her were somewhat like remembering yesterday-not that long ago. 

What had she been doing all these years?

"Well, what do you think?" Jack asked, interrupting my thoughts.

I tilted my head back, staring at the ceiling and gave a shrug. "So a bunch of idiot scientists knew about the planet and those things before we did. _Mind blowing, __really."_

I heard a choking noise and smiled slightly. 

"Fine. If that doesn't tell you anything, I will. These guys were from the Newtonian Institute. The Newtonian Institute is based upon on a preservation-basis-system. They preserve and _spread endangered species, species that are not capable of surviving on their own."_

"So you think that those fuck-ups down on the planet were endangered."

"Yeah, I do. Check this." She opened a new holo-screen and I read it aloud.

"Planetary conditions of Y16/Z21, better known as T2 in the M-344/G System…" Quinner System, I supplied in my mind. "have been labeled unstable. There is a cosmic breakdown in effect already, scheduled for a last-life of seventy-nine standard E.E. years. With this unusual and accelerated rate of compaction occurring combined with the already strange and complex celestial dynamics of the system, W.C.L. and Council have decided to regenerate more of the creatures that were found on the planet. The surviving creatures left over after the primary tests on the planet will be relocated with the regenerates and will be absorbed by the new generation. The natural predators survive on the large and live prey level, thus calls for necessary actions. The creatures will be relocated to Planet Y781/Z18 for further testing. Signed, D. O." I finished, amusement lacing my voice. Just what did Jack expect of me? To run in, give the evil men a swat on the hand, and save the day?

I don't think so.

 Jack flipped to a new screen. "D. O. stands for Daryl Olso. President and ex-owner of Olso Shipping Corporation."

"Why the hell should I care, Jack?" I asked. Personally, I didn't give a flying fuck as to what those corporation types did as long as they stayed out of my way.

 She stared up at me, pretty face startled. I believed she actually thought that I _would_ care. For a moment I felt something stir in my mind, but then it was gone before I could identify what it had been. 

"Riddick, don't you see what happened?"

I gave a short release of breath. "Look, I'm gettin' real tired of these games you're playin' round me, so get to the point."

She traded holo-screens again, and set the port unit on the bed, standing to face me. "The point _is_, Riddick," she spat out and I saw something of the young kid I remembered so clearly, "Is that Olso Shipping Corporation is owned by Alliance Shipping, where anyone who's smart enough knows that it's a Chartered Company that has ties with the Newtonian Institute. Daryl Olso also works with the Institute. Which means that the crash of the Hunter-Gratzner was no accident because the Hunter-Gratzner is _owned by Olso Shipping. It was all staged by Alliance and Newtonian for the perfect test subjects—__us, whom no one would particularly miss." She stopped to take a breath and I arched a brow at her little speech, for it _was_ interesting. She tilted her head forward, looking at the floor. Her impractically long braid slipped over her nicely-formed shoulders._

"What I'm _trying_ to say is that there were forty-four people on our ship, three were crew, and thirty-nine were passengers. That leaves two unaccounted-for persons that were on ship that we didn't know about. Those two survived, _as was planned_, and were there to make sure we stayed on the planet until the eclipse came." She looked back up at me, eyes seemingly glowing brighter and her mouth forming a scowl. "We were just fucking lab-rats to them, Riddick. _We were the damn primary test. Except you, Imam, and I weren't supposed to survive it."_

She ran a hand over her forehead, smoothing back her hair. "They're planning on using Olso's Ships to move the creatures."

I have to admit, the information was something I hadn't expected and I felt the familiar stirring of anger, like too many bees buzzing around inside my head. Liquid heat filled my gut and I flexed my arms, though they were still locked together. There was the urge to lash out at something; make it hurt, _make it scream._

But I didn't. I haven't lost control but twice before in my life and now was not the time to start making a habit of it. Mouth tight and face grim, I finally loosened my arms and lowered them.

"Figures those monkeys would pull shit-jobs like that on us."

"So you'll help me?"

I already knew the answer, but asked anyways—see if she was as nutty as I thought. "Help you what?"

When she answered, her voice was lighter, hopeful. "To stop them from relocating the creatures to Y781/Z18."

"Do you even have any idea what planet that actually _is?"_

Her voice lowered then. "Yeah. Accolade Ax, Deleriz System."

Well, well, well, I thought. Accolade Ax, a densely populated planet with a twenty-nine hour rotation time, twenty-five of those hours being spent in darkness. They were planning on a world-wide wipeout. 

"You're cracked. No fuckin' way." I announced, reaching up to take my goggles off. The sun was going down, the light not so bright anymore. I moved past her and picked up the bag I had thrown in. I tossed it on the other side of the bed after I was finished with it, getting out the cred card I had acquired back on Erus Mavia. 

"But they'll kill everyone!" Jack cried, stumbling against the side of the bed as she moved closer to me again. Well, it looks like Jack was as graceful as ever…

"Good intentions kill faster than bullets, Jack." I said, remembering the thought from back on T2. "I'm not willing to take bullets much less anything else for some people I don't know nor give a shit about."

"How long have you been in cryo since I last saw you?" 

I glanced over at her, amused by the change in subject. Odd question to ask, that was. "Sixteen years." 

"That's why I need you. You should be able to remember everything like it was yesterday and I can't. For me, it's been thirteen years because I've spent so much less time in cryo than you did afterward and for you, it's been only _two _years_. You remember them, I don't. You know things and I don't. Riddick, you're the only one who can help me. Please. Come with me."_

I stopped what I had been thinking, frozen by her words. _Come with me. Carolyn had said the same thing to me, made the same assumptions. Of course, in the end, I had gone back with her. Truth be told, it had been a bit of morbid curiosity that had driven me to go back. I had wondered if the girl and holy man were still alive. And it was somewhat of a surprise to discover that they _had_ survived the however small amount of time I had left them._

I realized Jack was still staring at me. 

"No." I said and moved past her to the door. I was partially hoping by the time I got back, she would be gone and headed back to New Mecca on her own.

I opened the door and left it wide behind me. I heard feet scrambling on the floor and then the door shut.   
            Damnit, she was following.

I went down the steps and started down the small alley towards the food district, staring up at the dimly shinning stars above. I heard Jack stumble down the stairs behind me and I wondered briefly what the hell was wrong with her.  
            I turned half-way to glance at her and saw her standing at the foot of the stairs, staring out at the alleyway in front of her.

Her head darted from side to side, eyes searching for something. Her movements became almost frantic and birdlike and her voice, when uttered, sounded small and whispery. "Ri—Johns? Johns!" 

I stopped in my tracks and turned completely around to stare at her, wondering if this was some kind of joke she was pulling. What was her problem? I was fucking standing _right_ _here._

Her slim, curvy body was tense, her arms half-out, searching for something—me, I assumed. Some hair had escaped her tight braid and fell down her face, twitching in the wind and her eyes were wide and glowing like two small beacons.

I heard her mutter something, then, "Shit. Shit!"

I realized something right then and groaned. 

"You've got to be kiddin' me." I said.


	4. The Failing Light, Chapter Four

Chapter Four, The Failing Light

"ES?"

"Yeah."

"Never heard of them."

Jack advanced a few steps, using my voice to guide her, and stopped a couple feet away from where I stood. Her lips pursed for a moment and I looked over her. _Really looked, for probably the first time. It was hard to imagine the girl I had known what seemed like yesterday to be this woman before me. Three more years and she would have been older than me. Pretty damn frightening._

"I can't see in the failing light _or_ in the dark. The ES filtered the light back on New Mecca, dimming what I saw. If I want to go out at night, I have to wear my specs."

_Can't see in the failing light or the dark_…What the hell was _she_ thinking? I thought about how completely harmless she'd be if she was ever caught in the dark. How easy it would be for someone to hurt her…kill her.

"Not very smart, Jack."

She crossed her arms, attempting to look defiant despite the fact that her gaze went too far from my face and past my left shoulder. It didn't work.

"Look, I wasn't planning on leaving New Mecca. I had a good life there, but…I had hoped that maybe…" She closed her eyes momentarily, shaking her head. "Never mind…Once I found out about the plans of the Newtonian Institute, I _had to leave. I can't allow them to do what they are going to do. Don't you understand that?"_

I stared at her for a moment, then said, "No. I _don't_ understand that." I wondered if she had gone crazy…or maybe that everyone was still sane and it was _I_ who had gone crazy. "What does it matter to you what happens on a planet almost half the galaxy away? You even think that a handful of the people there would lift a finger to help you if you needed it?"

A scowl crossed her face. "That's not the point." 

So much like Caroline…uncanny. "Then what _is_ your point?" 

"Because…because what they're doing is wrong."

I stepped closer until I could feel the heat radiated from her body. "Wrong…" I rumbled and then laughed lowly.

"Bad. They have to be stopped and I'm going to do it…" She closed her mouth and then opened it as if to speak again, then stopped for a moment. She finally said, "I'm going no matter what happens here. Things _would be a lot easier if you were with me, but you not coming is __not going to stop me. Understand __that."_

My lips twitched and I leaned down towards her face. "Impressive, Jack." I watched her swallow momentarily and slightly tilt her head back, putting more space between my own and hers. "I can see you're quite determined. But-" _ But, the fact was, I knew if she went alone she wouldn't be stopping them. She'd be getting herself killed. _

I could…smell…it on her, a weakness of strength she had had all those years ago when she was a girl. She may have been willful, stubborn, and too damn smart for her own good, but she wasn't strong. In the physical sense, of course. And why should she be? It's not like she had spent the past years learning to fight for her life…

_Like you?_, a small voice whispered in my mind.

I told it to shut the fuck up.

"But," I continued, "I don't think intimidation and determination is goin' to get you very far. The minute darkness falls you're gonna be any of those things' meat. You'll have maybe a few moments to figure out what went wrong and that you never should have gone." Okay, so truthfully, I had a little more faith in the Jack than I was preaching, but she most definitely didn't need the encouragement right now. I mean, there had been some pretty damn intelligent and determined women in the surviving group on T2 and look where they all were now…

"So go with me then! I don't want to die, Riddick. The chances are going to be higher if you're not there with me."

"Yeah. They'll also be higher for me too. No way."

She tried again. "Please…" She paused and I could immediately see her switching gears and then, trying a different tactic, she said, "I'll give you anything you want. Money. A ship. You name it!"

This could be interesting…

"Really?" I sneered, half-mocking but definitely paying more attention now. "And just when do I get my…payments?"

"When we're planet side." She said, eyes almost seeming to focus on me for a minute.

I laughed, _really_ laughed. "I don't think so. The world doesn't spin like that, Jack."

"Look, I realize how phony that sounds, but it's true. It's on a TD in with my equipment. I can't get to it right now."

I didn't reply, looking over her face, seeing it looked genuinely sincere. I shifted onto my other leg, watching her for any sign that she was lying. After a few minutes where I could see she was growing impatient, I decided that she was in fact, telling the truth…and also that there was still _something she wasn't telling me._

So, before I could even say the words, I was giving my self a nice mental ass-kicking for giving in, telling myself I really needed to get my priorities straightened. 

"Fine, Jack. I'll go with you. The minute we're planet side, I want the creds. Understand?"

"YES!"

"I'll be really unhappy if I don't get them…got it?"

"Got it!" Jack was beaming up at me and I tried to resist the urge to grow nauseous. 

What the hell was I thinking letting someone so…naïve…take me back onto that planet? It was going to be hard enough just trying to watch out for her…

"Come on." I grabbed her arm and led her back to the room, pulling her up the steps while she stumbled. I pushed to the door open and went in.

"So where are we going now?" she asked.

"_You," I replied, "are staying here and not getting into any trouble." I let her go into the room, letting her fall to sit on the bed. "_I_ am going out."_

"What?! But our ship leaves tomorrow!"

Well, thanks for telling me that, Jack, I thought. Now I'm on deadline. 

And I hate deadlines. 

"I'll be back in time. Just make sure _you're_ ready."

She scowled, a tiny line creasing upon her forehead and anger laced her voice. "_I'm already ready. Everything's been taken care of. I've paid for passage and baggage. All I needed was your worthless hide."_

I arched a brow at her, though knew she couldn't see it. "Not so worthless if you begged me to go…" I murmured, turning to the still open door.

I heard an indignant noise behind me and then, "I did _not beg you-" as I closed the door behind me. _

I strode off the steps with half a smirk on my face, finally being able to determine what I _really_ thought about the woman who had just entered into my life. She was so much like the little Jack I remembered and so much like a stranger…

I ran a callused hand down my face and rubbed my jaw. I needed a shave.

When I first arrived here, I had been planning on dealing some business then heading off to Mixyn Laen, a planet you could easily disappear on. 

Oh well. Fuck that idea. For the moment, I suppose I could try and find a clean whore; I heard T5 has a nice assortment down in Red District 9…

_Get rid of a little tension, morning comes, it'll all just be back. _

But at least for now I can fix things, although I wasn't really sure if a good fuck would cure my ails, so to speak.

All I was _really_ sure of was something that I was not really too comfortable with. And that was the fact that maybe Jack had claws in me that I hadn't known were there in the first place.

And I didn't like that. Oh, no. 

Not at all.


	5. Goodbyes, Chapter Five

Author's Note: Yeah, well, I didn't get but one or two reviews on the last chapter and I'm thinking about ending this prematurely b/c I don't even know if anyone's really reading this story…so, go ahead and enjoy this one. Bye!

Chapter Five, Goodbyes

            The Neidet Dawne wasn't exactly the best ship money could buy, but it was clean and it was respectable, and that was all that I needed.  It's not like I would see the ship very much anyway, considering I'd be in cryo sleep most of the time. Besides, I had used the bigger portion of my money on equipment for the planet; guns, rations, light, vehicle.

            Riddick currently stood behind me and to the side, arms crossed, expression closed. The few passengers that dared to be on this flight veered from the area we stood in and the crew or captain had yet to appear and speak with us.

I was using the vidcall to speak with Imam, who had just appeared. 

"Hello, Imam." I greeted him, somewhat guiltily…I knew he wished me not to go through with this and yet I was despite his objections.

"Audrey…" He said nodding with a smile. Imam was the only one who could get away with calling me Audrey, much less Jacqueline.

"We're about to leave for T2, Imam. I wanted to say goodbye, in case…" I trailed off, not wanting to say the obvious. I watched Imam's smile fade and his eyes flit to Riddick behind me. The expression on his face changed to something harder, more stern.

"Mr. Riddick, I see time has found you well."

I turned to look at Riddick as he replied, watching the black gloss of his goggles glint in the light. "As well as I could be."

Imam frowned. "I asked Audrey not to go on this foolish quest. What God has ordained, will be…we should not try to change that."

I bit my tongue at the old words. That point he had brought up once had been his only argument against my going…the only one he had told me, anyhow. And now he was telling Riddick.

"I figure Jack's not to keen on authority." Riddick rumbled, glancing at me.

I frowned at them both. "You both know why I'm going…There's no stopping me."

"No, there's not." Riddick replied, a smirk catching on his lips.

Imam sighed, glancing back at me though he continued to speak to Riddick. "I pray that you will keep her safe, Mr. Riddick."

"She's a big girl, holy man."

"Yes, she is. But those things are bigger."  
            Riddick just smiled wider, shrugging.

I stepped in front of Riddick, cutting off most of Imam's view from the other man. I didn't like them talking about me as if I wasn't there. "Imam…I'll be careful. You _know_ that. Now, please, just let it go."

Imam's dark eyes met my own. He had never gotten ES and when I asked why, he just replied that with his darker eyes, he did not have as much problems as I would have. And that he was used to it. I thought it was just a load of bullshit and he'd go blind any day now.

"Audrey…you're like a daughter to me. I do not wish to lose you."

"I know, Imam. I know."

"Mr. Riddick, bring her back to me."

I heard him shift behind me, but I didn't look back and he didn't reply.

"Goodbye, Imam."

Imam placed a hand against the screen, and I mimicked him. "Goodbye, Audrey. May God keep you both safe." Imam glanced away from me to Riddick and nodded.

The screen flickered and closed. I sighed, letting my hand drop to my side. I turned to Riddick to gauge what his reaction to my little sendoff, but he said naught a word about it. He just stood and stared at me, and I looked back, not flinching.

"Ma'am? Sir?" A voice interrupted us.

We both turned to look at the tall man who had spoken. He was impeccably clean, flight suit pressed and every button in place. His hair was a light blonde, but already streaking with gray and his eyes were a watery green. His face had laugh lines around the eyes and mouth, yet he gave off a natural air of professionalism. 

He startled slightly as he noticed my eyes. I think he would have startled more if he had seen Riddick's, of who's was hidden.

"Yes?"

"Would one of you happen to be Jack al-Walid?"

I stepped forward slightly. "That would be me."

"Alright. Very good. I am Captain Danner." He turned, motioning with his hand. "Follow me, please."

We did, listening to him as he explained some things and led us down several long hallways.

"I normally wouldn't accept a job like this, but for the exorbitant price you paid, I went against my own rules. Your equipment and vehicle will be taken down to the planet by skiff first. After my crew has returned, you will be awakened and will follow down to the drop site." He stopped at a closed door and opened it, gesturing us ahead of him. It was the cryo chamber. Several other passengers were already either being helped into a cryo tube or already in and asleep, faces slack and eyes closed.

He led us over to two opened and empty tubes, moving us inside. I stepped up into it, leaning against the slight tilt of the tube and watched him move away for a moment. He came back with silver object, shaped almost like a gun, except for the mouthpiece on the end of it.

He placed it to my lips and asked me to breathe in. I did, inhaling the red mist into my lungs as he pulled the trigger on it. He gripped the back of my neck and moved the CG gun below my jaw and pressed it firmly to the flesh there.

"On the count, breathe out. One…two…three." I did as he said, and exhaled quickly. The needle attached to the mouthpiece pierced my skin, and pumped the silverish liquid into my body. The Captain's grip on my neck tightened as my head snapped back against the headrest.

I squeezed my eyes shut against the fiery stinging that was traveling up and then down my body. My fists clenched and I felt my form go rigid. I wanted to whip my head from side to side but could not, the Captain's grip too strong.

Eventually, just a few seconds later, though what seemed like hours, the pain began to flee and I started to relax. When I was sure I could move without the jabbing sensations, I nodded at Captain Danner and he moved to do Riddick.

I stood there, grateful for the lean of the tube; for I knew I wouldn't have been able to stand if it hadn't been there. I felt the effects of the VapAir mist still working on opening my airways better and I took a deep breath. Without the mist, the mercurial liquid, known as Trisomna, would have blocked off my ability to draw oxygen into my lungs and I would have suffocated.

The reason why we all had to take Trisomna? Well, Trisomna worked through our body and began the shutdown process, which would allow us to become more susceptible to the cryogas they pumped into the tubes after they were sealed. The VapAir stayed and recirculated in our bodies, waiting for the release gas that would "bring us back to life" right before we exited the tubes so it could reactivate and allow us to breathe.

A rather complicated process, but it was better than waking up years older and not knowing why. That had happened a lot back when cryo had first started being used in commercial and private ships. People would "go to sleep" young and in their twenties and would wake up past middle age. 

There had most definitely been a whole lot of lawsuits over the matter.

But not anymore, VapAir and Trisomna had worked well for the past hundred and fourteen years…and it would continue to do so.

"Alright. All done." That was the Captain. I opened eyes that I hadn't known had closed again and looked at him almost drowsily. "Now, as agreed to before hand, you'll both be finding your own ways off planet. After I drop you, you're on your own." I saw him move away for a moment, and then he was back in my line of sight. He stepped closer to me and raised a small light to my eyes, pulling back my slack eyelids and checking my eyes for any broken blood vessels that would signal a bad batch of Trisomna. I must have not had any problems because he stepped back and had both hands on his hips. 

He looked at me and then, I assumed, Riddick. "Any questions?"

I heard silence from Riddick's side, so I replied, voice scratchy from Trisomna caused locked muscles, "No. No questions."

He smiled then. "Good. Well, ma'am, sir, I hope you enjoy your trip." He reached up and pulled down the tube cover over me. He put the safety locks on and then straightened and rapped on the clear cover.

I looked up at him and heard his muffled, "Have a good sleep."

I nodded, struggling a bit with the movement. I watched him reach up and push the button that would release the cryogas. The metal above my head clinked and then I felt the slight brush of air as the gas entered.

I had just barely a moment to think how glad I was to be on my way and with Riddick no less, before my eyes closed and I could not open them again.

It was always like this in cryo…you always had maybe a minute before your body went into deep freeze, your limbs felt so heavy and yet you could still think. 

For a moment, I wished I would dream of something…of home with Imam, of just being with Riddick, but like they always say…You don't dream in cryo.

You just exist…and wait.


	6. Payment Problems, Chapter Six

Author's Note: Well, people are still out there, after all! Thanks to all! I decided to update earlier than I normally do, b/c I was in a writing mood lately. The following chapter has sexual content, so if you wish not to see it, don't read it! Just a warning! Personally, I don't know what the hell I was thinking when I wrote this chapter…

Jazzbone: Thanks, I try and make things seem as likely and possible as they could be if they were real!

Kat Comfort: Thank you! I'm trying not to build the relationship too slow or too fast…although I think I went fast in this chapter…ah well. Enjoy!

Abraxis: Thanks for reading! The reason I posted the last chapter saying I might end this prematurely is b/c I didn't know if anyone was reading it anymore…THUS, I would have taken it off ff.net and kept writing for myself instead of others. BUT, if there _were others, I wanted them to be able to enjoy it still. But I wanted to thank you for your concern! What you said has a valid point and should apply to all writers, so thanks!_

DevilDude: Thanks! Come back soon!

Christine: Thanks, I will!

DiesalBabe: Hah! I love your name! Should you be checking stories while at work? Hehe…I hope I don't get you in trouble! That wouldn't be cool! I'm glad you like my story and how I described cryosleep. I'm quite fascinated with the idea. Come back soon! 

Chapter Six, Payment Problems

Gravity shifted and then I was falling. A slight pull in my shoulders caused me to gasp in pain. It was hard to take a breath, but I managed just barely. After the first breath, it got easier.

I moaned from the coolness surrounding me and forced my heavy lids to open, and for a moment, wished I hadn't.

The room was bright and it was hard to focus. Finally, though, I could and saw that I was on my knees and someone had caught me from dropping all the way to the metal floor; hence, the pull in shoulders.

The woman in front of me extracted her arms from beneath my armpits, gripping me by the shoulders so I wouldn't fall over. She was speaking to me, but I couldn't hear what she was saying. I saw her lips move, but not sound came out.

"Fuck!" I said, but didn't hear my own voice. Nothing but white noise.

I rolled my eyes away from hers to look about the cryo chamber. Only one other tube had been opened and that was Riddick's. He was on the floor on all fours with a gray-haired man speaking to him, hand on his shoulder.

We two were the only ones who would be getting off on this stop.

"-me now?" The woman was asking. I slapped hands to both my ears feebly, trying to block out the blast of sound. I groaned again and pushed weakly against the brunette. She shifted me to sit and lean against the opened cryotube locker. 

I gulped in air, stomach rolling uncomfortably and I placed a hand against it, telling myself it would be over soon. I never really remembered the side effects of cryo being _this_ bad before…maybe it was nerves? Technically, I knew the Trisomna had worn off about three weeks into cryosleep and the VapAir was working hard to help me breathe better, but it was still somewhat of a panicky deal. Exiting cryo was never my favorite thing to do. Hell, I had done it forty-three times before and I still wasn't used to it.

"Here, drink this." The woman tilted a bottle of Purewater to my lips and I drank gratefully, wetting my dry throat. I grasped her wrist when I could not take anymore and she pulled the Purewater away, telling me to hold still and she'd be right back.

I watched her walk away and down a corridor, probably for the captain, and licked my lips slowly. The tip of my tongue hurt, I had probably bitten it on accident. 

I turned my head to look at Riddick and saw him leaning against his own locker, head back and occasionally nodding to something the old man asked. After he nodded for a last time, he pushed up against the cryotube and stood. He didn't appear to have much of any problems. 

A few minutes passed and I attempted to stand myself. It took me a while, but I finally did, ignoring the weakness in my limbs. I went to glance at Riddick and found that he was right next to me. 

I startled, and put a hand against the tube to catch myself just as Riddick's hand shot out and gripped my arm. I mumbled a thanks and after I was sure I could stand on my own, I pulled away from him.

Captain Danner and the woman entered, the woman smiling and Danner with a slight frown on his face. 

            "Follow me, Mrs. al-Walid, Mr. al-Walid. I don't particularly want to be in this section of space for longer than I have to, if you don't mind. Your things are already at the landing site." The captain said and turned through a different doorway then he had entered. I just barely held back a laugh at his assumption and then looked to Riddick.

            He was staring at me oddly, head slightly tilted and the laughter died in my throat.

            Yeah…too scary.

            We went down the hall, allowing the crewies to clean up the now opened tubes and close them up. We followed Danner to the loading dock and entered a small planet hopper, which was used to relay between a ship and, well, a planet. The hopper pilot was already in and waiting.

After answering a few of our questions reluctantly, the captain bid us farewell quicker than I would have expected and closed the hatch behind us. I suppose he was anxious to get away from T2 and its surrounding space.

I know I was and I had just _arrived_!

Twenty minutes later, we struck down. After a brief conversation with the hopper pilot, he lifted the ship and began the rise back to the larger Neidet Dawne, the antennae pylons glinting once and then disappeared along with the rest of the small ship.

I felt Riddick move away from me and I turned glowing eyes to the arid landscape. The black and yellow sand mixed freely over the heated terrain. The land was mostly flat, though horrifyingly familiar earthen spires pierced the sky in the distance. A cold flash ran down my spine in the sizzling heat and I shuddered. 

So many things had gone wrong here, so many lives were lost. I suppose if I compared it to the losses of the Wailing Wars, what we had lost was nothing.

But we had…if Lady Luck existed, she must be laughing her ass off right about now…

_Oh yes, we're back for more_, I thought as I rubbed a hand across my still braided hair, squinting at the land around me though it wasn't called for.

The light didn't bother me as it had before, the ES allowing for me to keep my eyes wide open in the strong light, instead of squinting. I took one last glance at the two yellow and red suns I faced and then turned back towards the blue giant, the direction Riddick had went. 

I noticed quickly the things I had ordered down and saw them about forty feet away. Riddick was already there. I looked once more up at the direction that the small ship had taken and exhaled noisily.

_Well. No turning back now_, I thought as I broke into a slow jog towards the equipment.

"Where is it?" Riddick asked when I finally reached him. His was standing next to an opened canvas bag, arms crossed again.

Confused, I slowed down and stopped next to him, gasping at the lack of air that too much pressure created. We'd need to get out the liquid oxygen canisters soon and set up the small sip IVs.  "Where's what?"

He looked at me, frowning. "The creds, Jack. You said you had 'em on a TD with your stuff."

I blanched, stepping back. I gave a short laugh, nervous, and tried to think of what I would tell him. Technically, I hadn't lied when I said I could get him money…but I _had_ lied when I said it was on a TenderDisk here. 

Riddick moved to face me fully, face darkening. "Where are the creds?"

"Heh." I said, moving to stand next to the hover terran. I ran a hand over it, nails tapping staccato on the plexi surface, head lowering. "Here's the funny thing, uh, I have the money…it's just not on TD like I told you." I looked up at him quickly, at his expression, then said, "I can still get it for you!"

He didn't do anything for a time and I was about to say something more when he began to laugh. I would have been relieved…_would have_…if it didn't sound so…_off_. He spun away from me and grabbed a loose rock from the ground at his feet. He reared back and let it fly. I watched the impressive distance it got and I pushed my back against the hover terran.

I flinched as his laughter turned into a long, wordless howl. Personally, I didn't see what he thought was so damn funny, but I wasn't about to ask him that in the state he was in.

His howl faded back into laughter and he slowly came down from wherever he had been. He rubbed both hands over his shaved head roughly and with that, his laughter ended.   
            Riddick turned back to me suddenly, his face serious and jaw hard. "Alright, Jack. Alright." He moved towards me, and I unconsciously gripped the side of the hover terran, though I knew he wouldn't hurt me. Right? _Right_? "If you can't give me my payment like agreed, I'll just have to take it out of you some other way."

I had one second to try and sort that out in my mind and then he was in front of me. "What—" He covered my mouth with his hand and pressed me back onto the hood, bending me backwards.

Fear knifed through me so quickly it was almost painful…was he going to hurt me? 

He got one good hold on my silver lycra shirt and then he yanked, ripping the material apart. I gave a startled squeak, looking up at him briefly shocked.

_Does he want what I think he wants?_

He snapped the front of my bra in half and then I felt him pull me up against him to jerk the ruined material off of me.

_Yes, he does._

He pushed me back onto the hover terran's hood roughly and went to the belt at my waist. As he unbuckled it and pulled it out of the belt loops quickly, I moved my arms over my breasts and watched wide-eyed as he tossed the leather aside. His fingers went to my pants and he worked them faster than he had my shirt.

As he tugged them down my legs, I heard him growl as they caught on my boots. I gasped for air as my heart thundered along. I tried to say his name, but it failed me and something shifted in me as he tugged off my boots.

"Riddick! Wait!" Whatever had frozen me in place before broke and I began to struggle. I kicked my legs at him, but he just caught them and pulled my pants the rest of the way off. He pushed his way between my legs, working on his own pants.

I screamed. Don't get me wrong…Riddick was _very_ appealing and I did…want…him. It was just…_not like this_. 

I reached out to push him away but felt him jerk and then his hands were free and he reached for my own, pushing them above my head and holding them there. His mouth came down and ran over my stomach, his rough tongue moving across the smooth, sensitive skin. I shuddered and squirmed beneath him.

I realized then that I could feel him. And he was hard, ready, and willing to go.

I made a decision then, and that was that if this was going to happen, I wasn't going to turn into a…victim. Not by anyone, most of all, especially not Riddick.

His mouth traveled upward to my breasts and focused on one. His swirled his tongue around the nipple briefly and then his mouth was locked over it, teasing unmercifully. 

I felt the sharpness of teeth briefly and I moaned aloud. He seemed to find encouragement from the exaltation and lifted from my chest. He looked down into my face, black goggles glinting in the strong light and then his mouth was on mine.

His fierceness seemed to dissipate when his lips met mine. His kiss turned slow, lips shifting softly against my own and then delivering a sweet pressure. My lips parted to allow him entrance and his tongue hotly explored the confines of my mouth.

I felt him release one of my hands and I placed it on his shoulder, balancing myself as he deepened the kiss further. His hand dragged down my side, making me shiver, and I felt him stop at the edge of my panties. 

I pushed my hips against him and he grunted, slipping his fingers under until I felt one stop between my legs. I shifted again and he slid a finger into me.

I arched against him and moaned again. Oh, yes. This was _definitely a Riddick Fantasy…He began to move, drawing his long digit out and then pushing back in._

_Please_ keep going!

"Ah…" I took a deep breath, aware of the lack of air and warned myself not to get too worked up. Like that'll not happen, I thought sarcastically. 

"Yes, Riddick…Oh God…"

I was about to speak his name again when I felt him go rigid…and not in the happy sense, either. My eyes went to look at him right as he rested his forehead on my bared stomach. 

His chest was heaving. I hadn't noticed in all the excitement…mine was too. "Riddick? What's wrong?" His hand loosened on my other and I sat up as much as I could with him still on me. "What's the mat—" 

"I can't do this…" He lifted off me then, pulling his pants back on and buttoned them. 

"You can't…" I trailed off and suddenly found myself embarrassed. I looked about for the shredded remains of my clothes but didn't see them. "God…"

I scooted off the hood of the hover terran and turned slightly as Riddick said, "Here." He took off the gray shirt he wore and tossed it to me. "Wear it until you find some of your stuff."

I nodded, pulling it over my head and forced myself not to stare at his nicely formed torso. He put his back to me and moved off to look at the things I had purchased for the trip. 

I stood there for a moment after her turned. I ran a hand over my body and then pressed fingertips to my bruised lips…God…I never realized that Riddick could be so…Oh, I don't know. I can't even think up a good word for it!

I didn't even know why he pulled away…was it me? Did he just decide I was too hideous to even consider me as someone he could be with? Was I that bad?

I took another deep breath and moved over to where I kept my clothes and other accessories. The red Plaztec box was dull in the light and after a quick number code, the top panel slide open, revealing neatly folded clothes with a chrono, silver pendent, and a wrist brace to control time between light bursts on the Maglamp. 

The first thing I picked up was the pendent, and hung it about my neck. It was a simple silver Libra symbol, derived from the early days of Earth, and incorporated as the zodiacal symbol for the month of my birth. I can't quite recall how it came about…one day, I came home to find Imam oddly absent (for the afternoon) and the necklace laid out atop my bed. 

The next thing I did was clamp the wrist brace onto my right arm, wincing at the uncannily freezing metal. It always was cold. I made sure the pressure pads were clear of dust and that they touched not a thing. I had brought light with us in case something went wrong and I didn't want to waste any light we did have…no matter how much I had brought.

The chrono was last, and after a snap, I turned it to have the face sitting atop my wrist. I glanced quickly across the time and then date to see if everything was as it should be. It wasn't…

"Fuck…" I whispered, and then louder, "FUCK!"

"What?" Riddick asked from a few feet away.

I looked up at him and said, unable to keep the panic out of my face. "We've got a problem. A. Big. Fucking. Problem."


	7. Never Too Prepared, Chapter Seven

Author's Note: Well, here you go. Sorry if there's any grammar/spelling problems. I'm finally starting to get into this story. Yeah! I wanted to say thanks to all that reviewed! Especially all my loyal ones who've been reading this since the first! Read/Review, please!

Chapter Seven, Never Too Prepared

I looked at the chrono on Jack's wrist, brow furrowing. I rechecked the date and time and looked to Jack with a raised brow. Just what was I supposed to see here?

"Well?"

"Well what?" I asked, turning away from her, forcing my gaze not to linger on Jack as she wore my shirt. I tried to ignore the fact that I thought she looked pretty damn good in it…_What the hell am I _thinking_? This is Jack here!_

I heard a short, harsh bark of a laugh. "The date, Riddick. It'll be twenty-two years to the day by tomorrow!"

I swallowed a growl, still not facing her as I moved away to look through some of the cloth bags nearby. I couldn't get into the Plaztec boxes at this moment and in all reality, I knew I was just trying to avoid conversation with Jack.

And besides…I was tired of the word games. And while not always so sweet and short, I wanted to get to the point. "What're you talkin' about, Jack?"

"Riddick!" It was almost a cry. "It'll be twenty-two years to the day by tomorrow that we first came here. Don't you understand?" She paused, taking a breath and before she even started speaking again, I thought I did. I almost wished she didn't open her perfect little mouth to tell me what I thought I already knew…but she did. "It's going to be pitch black by tomorrow around 1600 hours."

I stiffened, unable to help my body from going totally rigid. If I were a lesser man, I'd be dwelling on how unfair the universe was…but I wasn't…So fuck the universe! I never have had much luck in my life and knew I probably wouldn't get any now. I don't need all that spiritual or whatever the hell you call it bullshit…The only one I could trust to rely on, apparently, was me. 

_And look where the fuck you are now, Riddick-boy! Your life's just one big cosmic joke anyhow…_

_Bet ol' Johns is laughing in his grave right now._

"This wasn't supposed to happen! I mean, I prepared for it, but it wasn't supposed to happen. Captain Danner! I thought he looked a little anxious to see us get off the ship. No fucking wonder! He must have arrived off-schedule…" She was almost babbling, but I didn't even feel like doing anything to stop her. I was too busy laughing at myself for being so idiotic as to come along with her. 

"Bastard…He didn't even tell us…If I hadn't checked my chrono, we would've been in for a major surprise." Jack said, voice almost bitter.

"Doesn't matter." I told her finally. "We're here and we might as well get things done. Get some clothes on and then tell me what all you brought."

There was silence for a moment, then, "Sure."

I walked over to the hover terran, the plexi surface dull so as to not reflect light. A quick flash of naked Jack spread out on the hood flashed through my mind before I pushed it away. I had almost taken her…Hell, I didn't even know if she was a virgin or not. But, with her being almost twenty-seven in a few months, the likelihood of it was incredibly slim.

My old self wouldn't have given a flying rat's ass if she was or not. Fuck, I would've delighted in taking her virginity if she had had it. After all, living life regardless, or perhaps in defiance, of the consequences was pretty damn liberating. And I'd enjoyed nothing but reaping the benefits.

_But things change. You changed, _a voice whispered in my head. 

The thought was enough to spur a little anger up from the depths I usually kept for such emotions as that. 

_Fuck you, _I said back to it.

I turned my attention back to the hover terran, seeing that it was a newer model. The vehicle was over twelve feet long and 6 feet wide (in its widest area) and had the pointed front that helped increase speed. The back end was the widest, rounded to almost an ovalish shape and used for storage or other passengers. 

I moved around to the driver's seat and got in, feeling under the dash for the plastic card I knew was hidden. My fingers slid over the smooth surface until they came upon a slight bump and I pushed against it. The compartment opened and out dropped the access card.

_Never fails_, I thought, a smile coming briefly to my lips.

I straightened in the seat, sliding the card into the computerized reader slot and sat back as the system came online. My eyes moved over the speedometer and I saw that it could reach about 65 mphs. 

_Good._

I checked the rest of the system and other features the hover terran had. Cover top, sled and sled puller, a light column called a Maglamp (a three foot high extending pillar of HardLight, that usually covered a circular area of fifteen feet around the terran), and also air conditioning.

_Even better.___

I turned the hover terran off, ejecting the card from the slot and placed it in the pocket of my pants.

"Okay. I'm ready. We're going to need to move all the equipment and supplies to a safer location when we're done though." Jack said, voice interrupting me.

I exited the terran and looked at her on the other side of the car. She had my shirt in hand and threw it back to me when I looked to it. I caught it and pulled it on, noticing that she had changed into all black. Her shirt was tight, with no sleeves, and even the pants she wore fit her snugly before flaring just slightly at the bottom to fit over her boots. A silver necklace with an odd symbol I had never seen before lay upon her breasts, glinting in the light. She looked good.

How the hell had little Jack grown up to become this without me knowing?

_First of all, you went away. Second, you know it was for the best that you did._

"Alright." I moved around to the other side to stand next to Jack. "Tell me what we have."

She glanced up at me, some odd emotion moving through her eyes and then nodded. She gestured for me to follow as we went to one of the Plaztec boxes and she typed in seven-digit code, telling it to me as she did so. "One Twenty-three, Forty-five, Ninety-One. The code should open all the boxes."

I grunted to her, assenting, and she began to tell me all that we had to work with.

"I'll start with the perishable items. Water and food, enough for two people for three weeks. Hopefully, we won't be here for that long. Medi boxes, full of the standard material: pain killers, wraps, morphine, Crystalcasts, and all the other shit." She stepped back and revealed the things she spoke of. She left that particular box open and they moved to a new one.

She spoke as she opened the box, "Liquid oxygen canisters and small sip IVs. Here," Jack said, lifting out the half-vest with the small, silvery canister on its back. "Put this on."

I took it from her, glancing it over and saw it was a more refined version of what we had had before. I pulled the black half-vest on, snapping the catches shut, and found it fit me nicely. I shifted in it and found that my movement was hardly inhibited at all. 

Jack followed suit.

"They're four more canisters in there, should for any reason, we need them. I only brought two extra sip IVs, so we're going to have to be careful with them. The canisters are here for, ya know, in case we don't acclimate as fast as we should." She paused, glancing up at me for a moment, then continued. "Those ten boxes over there, the ones that are marked, are all light; lightbars, tracer cables, alcohol…remembered what Paris said. Anything over 45 proof burns good. I didn't expect us to be caught on this planet during the eclipse, but I never was one to assume things would go perfectly. Obviously, they didn't."

We went to a different box. "Weapons. 450Ms AA keiver pistolas, 3200PW automatic blasters, magnetic pulse shotguns, and standard 42HP handguns. Those in case we run into trouble, human variety. For the rest, flames throwers and Light Blazers. I figured the flame throwers were a little ancient, but thought, what the hell. They'll cook those bastards any day. I also ordered some blades; shivs, old Bowie knives, razorcuts, and stilettos. And then there's this," She held up her wrist, showing me the wrist brace there. I raised as brow as she turned her hand, showing me her open palm. There was a small hard plastic bubble covering what looked like pressure pads beneath it and it was situated in the middle of her hand.

"What is it?" I finally asked, curiosity getting the best of me.

"Something I thought up. I remove this cover here," She tapped the plastic bubble, "And all I have to do is press the pads beneath. They control the time between light bursts of the Maglamp. I tinkered with the Maglamp so it'd cover more area and have more powerful light strength. Now the light'll surround us on all sides, including up now, for about forty feet. I suggest for you to not look into the lamp, for the obvious reasons."

"Obviously." I murmured.

Jack paused, and I could see the heat flood her cheeks. I gave a short laugh and motioned her on.

"This box," She told me, "Has most of the electronics plus all of my clothing. I had extra clothing for you in that box over there." She pointed and I nodded. "I brought a topical screen map. It'll show the layout for up to five miles. There's two tracker consols with bit chips that'll have to be injected later. Just in case we lose one another, we'll always now where the other is."

She turned towards a box, bigger and thicker than the ones surrounding it. "And that, right there, is how we're going to stop the Newtonian Institute. Acid Flare Bombs…" She paused, not saying anything for a long moment and I wondered what she was thinking.

"They're the only ones left of their kind. After they were outlawed years ago, they stopped producing them. They did too much damage and were too unpredictable to help either side. Those right there…they're the ones left over from the Wailing Wars and as far as I know, we hold the last of them. I had to go through several lines on the black market and not even the distributors wanted to deal with them much. Said they caused too much attention to be directed on them."

"We'll have to be far away before we set those things off, you know." I commented.

Jack looked to me, then back at the huge, thick box. "I know."

She sighed belatedly, then finished the assessment with this. "All the canvas bags you found hold clothe material or flare guns."

I didn't say anything to this, but found that Jack had pleasantly surprised me. I hadn't expected her to be this prepared, much less this thorough. But, then again, when it came to this planet, you could never be too prepared.

I glanced to my left at the two suns, one red, one yellow, and had to squint just slightly beneath my goggles. A thought hit me, one that I had had earlier, and I frowned against the memory.

Jack had ES now. Her vision would be totally gone in the dark if she wasn't wearing her specs. Fuck.

By the end of tomorrow, I figured, something is going to go wrong and I know that Jack's going to be on the wrong end of the deal.

_Just what I need.__ Now I'll be babysitting when the time comes. _

I wondered if she even realized how much of a handicap those eyes were to her. I glanced over at her, watching the solemn expression upon her face as she looked over all the supplies.

Perhaps she did…who knew. Right now though, I didn't want to deal with it. So, I'd talk to her about it later.

"You said we needed to move everything to a safer place. Got one in mind?"

"Yeah. There should be a shallow dead-end cave about twenty miles from here, due south, but I'll check the screen map before we go. Once there, it should be about a day's ride to the relocation ships the Newtonian Institute sent. They won't be here for much longer though. They'll stay for another three or four days, collecting as many of those things as they can and then they'll leave. Who knows if they'll come back for more, considering that planetary breakdown is happening right now, though it won't become fatal until another thirty-five, forty years from now."

I digested this information, wondering how bad this was going to get before we got off this planet.

If we do get off, that is.

"Okay. Let's start piling things on the sled and get out of here." I took up the small sip IV and placed it in the corner of my mouth, taking a quick hit and going to an opened box. It was the weapons one. I pulled out two shivs, placing one in each boot before I slid the lid shut. After it closed with a small hiss, I hefted it up and went to lay it next to the hover terran while I slid the access card back in and started it up. I ejected the sled from the back and hooked it to its metal catch.

That done, I started loading the boxes, taking a hit of the liquid oxygen every now and then. I noticed Jack was doing the same, only taking the lighter boxes and putting them aside so I could put the heaver ones beneath first.

It seems like Jack had a great deal of common sense, only, the fact that she was even on this planet said otherwise. I didn't know how someone so smart could be doing something so stupid, but then again…

_Look at me._


	8. To the Batcave!, Chapter Eight

Author's Note: Man…sorry it took so long to get this out, I just couldn't think of where to take it…anywho, yeah, the title of the chapter's kind of corny, but _I thought it was funny…And that's probably __why it's not very funny, then. Oh well. Once again, I have not proofread this, so you'll probably find tons of mistakes and things might not make sense…Anyway, enjoy the story!_

Chapter Eight, To the Bat Cave!

Despite a small amount of trouble with the Acid Flare Bombs, loading the sled had taken a lot less time than I would have assumed if someone had told me Jack was going to help.  I suppose that, truthfully, I kept underestimating her. But then again, we had only just got here and I remembered the first time we had come to this planet, albeit unwilling, and how prepared we had _thought_ we were even with the crash of the Hunter-Gratzner. 

Yet, then again, we hadn't _known_. Hadn't known that we were being hunted and hadn't known that most of us would be dead by the end of that long, torturous night.

_Yeah. You survived, if that's what you call the living you're doing now_, a voice snarled in the back of my mind.  _Not even smart enough to stay away from a shit-hole of a planet and away from Jack_, of all people.__

I can't really be said to have fully rejoined the human race, but I'm definitely not as fucked as I had been all those years ago after the end of the Wailing Wars on Tangiers Six.  Perhaps joining that mercenary outfit that had augmented E-TAC soldiers wasn't exactly one of the smartest moments of my life, but it had held respite.

Too bad I wouldn't know that I'd come out of it alone…I had heard the rumors. Out of an outfit of five hundred men, I had been the only one to come back alive. I _knew what they had thought._

Murderer, they said. Killer.

_Fuck them! Who are they to judge me?! No one. They're all fucking nobodies!_

            _And Jack?, a voice asked._

            Jack…was a different story. I didn't really know what was between us, what she was to me or I to her. Jack was just…Jack.

            She had to be…or else, I'd be crossing a line that neither of us could see but everyone would know of.

 She was a familiar and yet unfamiliar face. She was one of the few that actually had an interest in my well-being. 

            Jack was a stranger and a well-known…_something_…all in one.

            I wondered briefly if she thought of me like that…like a killer.

            _Does it matter?, the voice asked._

            No. It doesn't.

            I leaned back in the seat as the Cover top slid smoothly into place. 

            "Well? What does it show?" I asked, voice low.

            Jack looked up from the screen map on her lap, a line between her eyes disappearing as she let out a whoosh of air. "I had a bit of trouble from the receiving, but I was right. It'll take us about twenty to forty-five minutes to reach there, depending on speed. It's a straightway, no drop-offs or go-arounds."

            "Perfect." I murmured, startlingly pleased, and shifted in the seat to start the terran. I pushed the button for lift and waited until we had leveled out, about three feet from the ground. A solid, yet far-away-sounding hum filled the vehicle. I pulled the safety shaft for the sled out and down, locking it in place. Other switches and buttons were pushed; solar and gas consumption, go-power, and systems-check.

            I looked over the dash and then out to the landscape surrounding us.

            I saw Jack lean forward out of the corner of my eye and turn on the air-conditioning. 

            I forced down a sigh as the cool air swept over my heated skin. I wasn't used to such luxuries. Most of the time, I was too busy being on the run or not having the time or money.

            "Let's go." Jack said, looking over at me. 

            I pulled the steering column back and gripped the half-moon handles, placing my thumbs on the incredibly small "gas" and "brake" thumb-pedals.

            I pressed down on the "gas" and the hover terran moved steadily forward until I had steadied the speed at around forty, not choosing to go the top speed.

            The hum filled the silence of the terran, no one talking.

            I heard Jack mumble something under her breath and I glanced sideways at her.

            "What?" I asked.

            She looked over at me quickly, startled, eyes wide. She glanced over my face and then color flooded her cheeks. She averted her eyes and then said, embarrassed, "I said, 'To the bat cave!'" 

            I didn't say anything for a moment, then, "_Really_? And that means…what?"

            Her head jerked up and some of the color drained away. "Are you serious? You don't know what that is?" She was clearly astonished at this information.

            "No."

            "Back on earth, a long, long time ago, they had a television show called "Batman." It was a line said often, whenever the heroes would go to their headquarters. It was funny…" She trailed off, a grin starting upon her lips. "I can't believe you haven't heard that…"

            I scowled at her, not seeing the amusement of that statement and therefore, deemed it unimportant.

            "Sure, Jack."

            She was quiet for a long time. I refused to break the silence, for at the moment, I was preferring it to conversation.

            "Have you _never_ seen one of the episodes?" She asked, her voice almost a whisper.

            Well, well. Where should I start? How about the fact that I never had much of a childhood or otherwise…How about starting out as a baby in a dumpster with my own umbilical cord wrapped around my neck? Then, carted off to so many different foster homes…Never staying around for too long, never any time to watch television or play games with the other kids. 

            No.

            My childhood was definitely a bit fucked up…

            "No. I've never seen one." I answered, voice almost a growl.

            I looked over at her and she shifted in her seat uncomfortably, a frown replacing her smile.

            She didn't say anything until you we were about a mile away from the cave.

            "Only a mile now." She pointed at a rise in the ground ahead of us, the landscape starting to move into foothills. "Just go straight through and we'll be fine."

            I took the hills slower than we had been going and as we crested a hill, a wall of winding, twisting…vines?...blocked our path, interweaving amongst each other. As we approached the wall, I slowed the hover terran to an almost complete stop. We stared up at the intricate lattice work in front of us, realizing that we weren't going to get through it.

            The bone…or wood, or whatever it was, stretched to both sides to two separate rock formations, almost like a web. It was taller than the hover terran by over twenty feet, I guessed. As I glanced further in, I noticed that the…web…stretched on and around the corner of one of the rock pinnacles nearby, like a tunnel.

            "That's so weird…the TSM showed the area clear." Jack said, clearly confused. She hesitated, looking over at me, then, "We'll have to go around."

            I didn't reply. I was too busy staring at the weaving, distorted thing in front of us. In fact, the longer I looked at it, the more and more it reminded me of a Mylian ghost trap. The funnel shape was almost identical, the material looked mostly the same…it even looked to have the same weaving pattern.

            Only this one looked a little old.

            I frowned, studying the structure for just a few more seconds, dismissing the ideas of going around or even ramming through, especially with the Maglamp and sled attached.

            The ghost should be gone…Hopefully.

            "We're not going around." I announced, placing the terran into a still-hover and slipping the Cover top backwards.

            I got out, telling Jack to stay put first. I walked back to the sled and found the appropriate box. I punched in the correct access code and waited as the box top slid smoothly aside. I picked out one of the 3200PW automatic blasters and returned the top of the box to its original place. 

            As I walked back towards the front of the terran, I pulled the charge pin on the gun, waiting for it to hit above the 100% mark. 

            "What are you going to do?"

            I turned to look at Jack. She was staring down at the blaster in my hands, watching the charger run up and over the safety mark. She looked worried.

            I passed her and raised the blaster to sight down the barrel, making sure I had both hands tightly on the extending grips. I ignored the warning beep from the blaster and instead braced my legs. I finally answered Jack. "What does it look like? I'm making a road."

            As I finished talking, I pushed the button for widespread streaming-fire and aimed near the middle of the structure in front of us.

            The electrical beam hit the web and immediately began to fry a hole in it, spreading almost like a fast-working disease. It was almost like watching the hardened lattice work disintegrate before us, leaving a hole that continued to double and triple in size.

            I was almost done when the blaster beeped once more and then an electrical whirr sounded inside the firearm and the beam stopped. There was a loud, metallic pop and something hit the side of my neck, heat spreading into my shoulder. One of the grips vibrated and then kicked sideways, twisting my wrist.

            "Fuck." I said and tossed the gun away from me, seeing it twist in on itself and begin to smoke.

            I got back in the hover terran, rubbing my aching hand against the side of my neck and encountered something in the skin. I growled as I pulled the small charging pin from my neck and tossed it out the vehicle.

            Jack shifted beside me and leaned over, voice quiet as she said, "You're bleeding…"

            I looked at her, eyes skimming over her slim and lovely body and swallowed the longing to take her right then. 

            _Breathe, you fucker. _

            "Hold on, I'll go get a bandage." Jack said, moving to step out of the terran.

            "No. Just wait till we get to the cave. Then it'll be taken care of." 

            She paused and then nodded, settling back into her seat.

            After the Cover top was on, I moved the terran forward. We went in and under the alien formation, moving slowly. The three suns managed to cast weird shadows from the weaving over us and the ground below. There were countless numbers of very familiar skeletons scattered on the floor. 

The creatures of T2. 

I would recognize them anywhere.

"Look at all the skeletons!" Jack exclaimed, practically gluing herself to the window.

I didn't say a word.

As I figured it would, the tunnel we were in began to widen and grow larger. The walls grew further apart and the ceiling rose. The skeletons became fewer and fewer.

            This _definitely_ had to be a Mylian ghost trap.

            We reached the end a few hundred feet later. On one side of the tunnel, the wall had completed collapsed, leaving a jagged edge. Something a bit bigger than the hover terran lay slumped against the broken wall.

            "Holy Akbar…What _is_ that?!" Jack exclaimed and out of the corner of my eye, I saw her tense in her seat.

I had to have been wrong about the age of the ghost trap tunnel, because the creature that was by the collapsed wall appeared to have died not too long before we had gotten there.

            The creature's skin, strangely, was mostly still attached and in fairly good condition. 

Its head lay crooked and to one side of its body. Its neck had been broken. The bone structure of the head was faintly reminiscent of the creatures we had encountered here before, though the jagged, oddly-shaped rows of teeth held no resemblance to them whatsoever. The neck was long and serpentine, blending into a barrel torso and body that was akin to the over-bred greyhounds you could find almost anywhere nowadays. The sickle-shaped tail lay across one incredibly huge, lizard-like hind leg, stained with some color of what I assumed was blood.

The fore legs were the strangest feature of the animal. They bent up and backwards over the ghost and then extended back to the ground, similar to the extinct grasshoppers of Earth. Instead of actual finger-like appendages, the beast had claws as straight and sharp as needles, the shortest of them longer than my upper arm. 

I knew what they were for. I had seen them in action. The needle-claws were used to separate, weave, and build the trap tunnel. They were also useful when cutting up prey. Even the tail, which was used mostly for producing the silky material that would later harden into what they saw now, was convenient for defense purposes.

There were hundreds of thousands of these things on Mylia, so why was one here?

Jack's voice brought me out of my thoughts abruptly. "Riddick! What is that?" 

"It's a Mylian ghost." I said, finally.

"A Mylian ghost?" She asked. "Looks pretty visible to me."

I sighed impatiently and pointed at the mottled white and pink skin. "The skin is camouflage. You can't see them until they move. Mylia is full of these ghosts and trap tunnels. They're usually indifferent to all the people that come around to see them, though if you're ever caught inside a ghost trap, you're dead." I looked at her as I said that last part and saw her shiver.

She studied the huge creature in front of us and then looked back at me, voicing the question that had been running through my mind.

"So what's it doing on T2?" 

"I don't know." I replied, wishing I did. 

Even as I drove the terran past the carcass of the ghost, something about the scene bothered me.

Why would a Mylian ghost be on T2? Especially since the climate was so much less hospitable…

I looked back at the structure and its dead builder in the rearview mirror.

Why did I feel like that wouldn't be the last Mylian ghost trap we'd see on this fucked-up mission?

Probably because it wasn't.


End file.
